Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Mother's Day is only a couple weeks away (Sunday, May 9th). Do you know what you're going to give your mom? Gifts of time, and homemade gifts are probably some of the best gifts you can give your mom, but sometimes you live too far away to get together, or don't have time to make something special. I've posted some do good Mother's Day gift and donation ideas below, as a continuation of last year's Mother's Day Donation Ideas post.

The Global Fund for Women's online store features companies who donate a portion of their sales to the Global Fund for Women like Alima Pure Mineral Makeup and Putumayo's Women of the World: Acoustic CD.

World of Good by eBay has all kinds of, "organic, sustainable, natural, environmentally responsible, fair trade, socially conscious and sweatshop free gifts for Mom."

When you give a refugee a "lifesaving gift" like prenatal care, school supplies, or blankets through a donation to the International Rescue Committee, they will send your mom a card, or e-card. Plus, your gift will be matched to support their maternal health programs in Sierra Leone.

The Ploughshares Fund will send your mom a card, a necklace, or flowers, depending upon the amount you donate. Your gift will be matched, "by a group of generous philanthropists, all mothers themselves."

MADRE will also send a card to your mom if you make a donation in her honor.

Image credit: Photo by me of two Palomas Aprons, a project of Border Partners. The aprons are designed and made in Mexico by women who sew to support themselves and their families.Full disclosure: I have supported, or worked for some of the organizations mentioned.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Those of you who are regular readers know that I've been experimenting with supporting two of my pals' work by being a part of their affiliate programs: Jenn's Right Brain Business Plan, and Kimberly's eco-fashion line, TranquiliT. They've both got cool stuff coming up that I wanted to tell you about.Jenn is teaching her Right Brain Business Plan e-course May 17-July 9th. I did the course this winter and really enjoyed it. Who knew business planning could be so fun?

Those of you who downloaded the Feb/March and March/April worksheets know the drill. Remember, it is OK if your goals grow and change. Don't be afraid to revise your 2010 and seasonal goals each month.

For newbies, start by writing down your three big goals for 2010.

Take one of those 2010 goals, and write down what you would like to achieve, related to that goal, during the spring (March 20-June 21).

Then, write down one thing you would like to achieve related to your spring goal during the next lunar month (April 14-May 13).

Repeat the process for your other two 2010 goals.

If you feel yourself tightening up around making goals, put your feet on the floor, take a deep breath, look around, and relax! Think of your goals as little wishes you're making.

Know that writing them down, looking at them throughout the month, and taking small steps towards achieving them will make them a little more likely to come true, and if they don't, no biggie! You have next month to review them, decide if you need to take different actions, and make new ones.

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

My favorite TV show right now is Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. Yes, it has reality show moments (really, did the high school students have to cook a meal for 80 people after a week of training?), but its message is clear: we need to return to eating real (unprocessed) food, and to cooking from scratch.

The show takes place in Huntington, West Virginia, one of the country's "fattest" and "unhealthiest" cities. During the episodes I've watched so far, Oliver worked with one elementary school, one high school, and one family to replace the tremendous amounts of processed food they eat with fresh, home-cooked food.

Seeing so many unhealthily overweight people (one adolescent is already showing the early signs of diabetes, another has spots on her liver) is disturbing, but knowing that a solution is within reach--eating real food--makes it an exciting program to watch. I also love cooking, so watching other people, especially young people, get jazzed about cooking, is fun to see.

I'd really like the show to stay on the air, and for the project to grow to other cities, so I'm encouraging you to watch it, and if you like it, to tell others about it.